Broken-Layla Keating

pilot...

"Hey, Jayden!" Billy called out throughout Baker Household, looking for an answer from one of his triplet teenagers. No response. "Jayden!" He called out again. This time, a very faint answer came from his daughter's bedroom. It wasn't actually a word, it was a low mumble. "Jayden Francine Baker! If you do not open this door this very second, I'm coming in." No response again. "One, two, three!" He went to body slam the door open, but just then, the Baker teenager opened the door, causing her father to tumble on the floor. Jayden stood there, consumed with her own laughter. "That wasn't funny Jayden."

"What's not funny is you waking me up." The teenager back talked him sassily.

"Have you not gotten up all day?" Billy got up and looked at his daughter. Her hair wasn't done and she was still in her pajamas.

"No. Why?" She asked her father in response.

"It's 6PM."
"Okay, and?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Get dressed." Her father told her. There was no room for discussion in his voice.

"Ugh, why?"

"We're going back to South Crenshaw."

XXX

It wasn't shortly after they got to Crenshaw did Jayden realize why they were there. Her father was taking her to a football game to scout someone.

"You're kidding." Jayden muttered as they took their seats in the rowdy crowd.

XXX

Towards the end of the game, the score was tied. 14-14. Crenshaw had the ball and threw it deep to Spencer James. He caught the ball and the crowd went wild. That was short lived, however, as gunshots went off in the near distance. Players rushed off the field and the crowd ducked, covering their heads. Billy's fatherly instincts kicked in and he immediately covered Jayden's head.

XXX

"I shouldn't have taken you here." Billy admitted on the way back to Beverly Hills. "I should have known that something was going to go wrong." He shook his head, clearly disappointed in himself.

"Dad, it's fine." Jayden reassured him for the hundredth time. "It was cool. I know you grew up here and I got to see some of where you grew up."

He sighed once more. "Not a word to Jordan or Liv about this, okay? Last thing I need is for them wanting me to take them back to Crenshaw."

XXX

The next day at school was Spencer James' first day at Beverly. As Jayden had anticipated, they were there to scout a new talent for Beverly's football team. Spencer James was the newest receiver on the team and Jayden couldn't like him more. He was nice, respectable, and, on top of all of that, a great football player.

"Meet the crew." Jayden's brother, Jordan, brought Spencer to the group they normally sat with at lunch."This is Hadley, Leila, Lucy, and up top is Asher, JJ, and my sister Jayden." They both sat down.

"Yeah, me and Jayden have met before actually." Spencer looked up at the girl who was frantically shaking her head no, trying to signal the man to stop.

"Oh, really, where?" Her brother responded curiously.

A little too late, Spencer picked up on the hint. "Oh, you know, just in a store once." He improvised. It was a horrible improvisation, but Jordan was an idiot. He shook his head and moved on.

"Hey, I think you and Asher play the same position."

"What's up, man?" Asher introduced himself to Spencer.

"Oh, receiver huh?" Spencer asked him.

"Yeah, broke the school record for receptions last year." He bragged. Asher was a stuck up rich white boy from Beverly Hills. He also had one big secret- he wasn't actually rich. His father had lost his money last year and his mother walked out on them.

"Me, too." Spencer smiled innocently at Asher.

"So, how are you liking Beverly so far?" Layla asked the new recruit. "I know it probably feels like lost footage or rich kids from instagram, but it's not so bad once you give it a chance."

"I'm sure it'll grow on me." He smiled at her. Both Asher and Jayden had a growing pit in their stomach at this interaction. Asher had every reason to. After all, his girlfriend was getting very close with the new kid. Her best friend, however, really had no reason to react like this. At least she didn't think she did. So, whenever she felt that way, she just stuffed her emotions back down.

Asher, however, displayed it openly in his own, douchey way. "Hey, so lay it on me, crips or bloods?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm dying to check out a crip walk for real. I've only seen one on Youtube."

"You. Yo, man he was just joking. Ignore him." Jordan told Spencer who clearly wasn't buying it.

"Asher, you wouldn't know a crip walk if it bit you in the damn white ass." His friend, JJ, laughed at him, trying to clear the tension in the air.

"That didn't sound like a joke to me, bro." Spencer stood up.

"Don't be so sensitive." Asher tried to brush it off.

"Sensitive?" He grabbed his bag. "Hey, yo, thanks for the welcome."

"Asher." Layla scolded her boyfriend.

"What? I was making conversation."

"Are you really defending yourself right now, dude? Just admit that you fucked up." Jayden told him. She got no response.

"Jay's right. You were just being an ass." She grabbed her bag and her lunch and took after Spencer, the sinking feeling only burning deeper in Jayden's stomach.

XXX

The Baker parents had arranged for a team get together at the Baker house later that week. The team invited some more friends, those friends including Layla. Jayden and Layla were best friends. Layla came to Jayden about her crap and Jayden listened. Jayden didn't have any crap that Layla could listen to. The only thing that Jayden wanted to tell her best friend- she had a lingering thought in her hand- 'What if I'm gay?' That thought only grew stronger once again as Layla and Spencer got too close by the pool.

XXX

Opening game of the season- one of the best moments of the football season. Layla and Jayden sat next to each other, their hands intertwined in a school girl way as they waited for the game to start.

"Please welcome the Beverly High Eagles!" Jayden and Layla, along with the rest of the Beverly fans, burst into applause and chants as the team ran out of the tunnel.

XXX

With enough time for one play left, Beverly was down 20-24 and had the ball. Next thing you know, Billy Baker subbed Asher out for Spencer, who had been playing safety all night. Asher was shocked and looked sourly at Spencer from the sideline as Spencer converted on the game winning block. The crowd erupted in applause once again and Layla and Jayden hugged as the team celebrated on the field. This time, the pit didn't fill Jayden's stomach- instead, it was butterflies that swarmed around her.

XXX

Billy Baker was always a headstrong man. That was even more evident when took Spencer James, not only under his wing, but under his roof to make sure his eligibility status was still okay. The Bakers greeted him warmly and treated them as one of their own. That was either going to be the best or worst decision of Billy Baker's life. That, well, that you'll have to wait for.